Growth of Pune
Facts and Figures Arguments for Growth # Practical - there is nothing, not even in the realm of possibility, for the Government, City or State, to bring about a cooling (no act or legal/statutory provision). On the contrary growth is seen as good (even if this is debatable) and as a measure of the city's vibrancy # Efforts elsewhere to prevent the growth of cities has not met with success. No development zones around the city or creation of satellite towns does not work. Eventually the growth engulfs the satellites creating mega cities. # The effort of ensuring that rural development happens to the extent that it slows rural-urban migration is so huge and has failed so miserably thus far, that even if this did happen (and that's a big IF) by then cities would have already swelled. # People migrate to a city, have always been, for many reasons other than economic hardship elsewhere. Professionals, artists and many others in pursuit of higher education, good jobs, opportunities, access to modern amenities, fast city life, cultural diversity and so on have always been attracted to cities. This is especially true of the younger generation and is common even in developed nations, where rural areas are certainly not impoverished. # Growth doesn't necessarily mean slums, ecological damage and urban poverty. It is possible to have planned urbanization. With the right housing policies, transport policies and provision of public spaces (open or otherwise) it is possible to have eminently livable cities. Most big world class cities (like London) are not only much bigger than Pune, but also growing yet are able to handle the populations and provide a good standard of life. In fact the resources (money and human) needed to plan for such growth is inevitably found in cities. # Creation of self-sufficient units within the cities with their own resources for managing things like waste, sewage treatment, local neighborhoods, partial budgets may be the way forward. Some things can be centralized, but a lot can be handled more locally, call them wards, mohallas or boroughs. Arguments against Growth Growth is good when it is in manageable limits. Planning itself implies managing growth. Unfortunately this has been neglected in Pune at the altar of the interests of politicians, industry and builders? When a city grows at over 7% an year it can only be labelled malignant growth. No planner can cater for it. A growing city brings more people, demand for housing, more vehicles on our roads. If 7% people come into Pune annually, is it any surprise that the vehicles population also grows by 7% annually? Many NGOs blame vehicle growth as a single event that sets of a spiral of congestion and pollution. If one only tried to find out where these additional vehicles are coming from one will realise it is migration. Organic migration is a natural process, when a city is developing, it is accelarated for a while by incentives and when the growth gets out of hand, one needs to cool this growth. Every industry, whether auto or IT, needs land, water, power, roads and permissions that are largely provided by Government. Higher entry tariffs become logical when one wants to cool the growth of the city. This will incentivise move to other cities like Satara, Nasik or Aurangabad and help decongest over-heated cities like Pune. However the spirit is unwilling and so is the flesh. When somebody says 'let us be practical' he does not want to do it. This 'practical' word can be used by so many Govt and political functionaries to justify their inaction. It is not meant for others. So in historical times - Shivaji was advised that 'it is not practical to fight with the Adilshahi and the Mughals....just grin and bear the atrocities'. Truly like so many blurbs say these days, this great man must 'come back' and save our decadent and corrupt governance. The desire to cool growth is not there. The first point itself rejects all Govt role and thoughts in this direction and even from the 'realm of possibility'...to Lulu land? OK, then let us dream awhile. "Acts" alone do not cool growth. It is Govt concessions/incentives (for example) to IT that brought IT to Pune raised prices across the board and made real estate unaffordable to Pune. It is the Govt that acquires land and creates new SEZs that encourage the growth. It is the Govt providing infrastructural help to industry as in water, land, power that aids growth. This then has a cascading effect with waves of growth starting from construction and consultancy, housing, transport, roads, schools, hospitals, malls, slums for people who come to provide domestic services to the new employees, grocery shops, dhobi-ghats, panwalas and all the paraphernalia of 'living' that creates growth. Unfortunately the city of Pune is packed and decaying due to this 6 or 7 % annual growth. This is not sustainable and one has to make the moves that will dis-incentivise industry from coming here. if there are no jobs here we will not have migration here. This is the first pre requisite for growth. Nobody can quite enjoy the fast life on New York or Paris if they do not have employment there. So turn off this growth of job opportunities and take them elsewhere. let people in other towns benefit closer to their home towns. The Government can do this! If instead of Pune, land SEZs, power, water and incentives are provided elsewhere, the industries may go there...or they may go to Gujarat. But they will find barriers to their plans to come to Pune. Infosys says 'Bangaluru has no place'. So one has reached super saturation there and therefore the company has decided to move. Is this sustainable planning? We are also heading for a similar situation. Green zones just adjacent and around the city are being taken up by industry and builders through cheap acquisition aided by the Govt (so they get land at one place), their zoning changed (the original owner who had the land for generations is therefore short changed) to set up IT cities, then mega cities (like Nanded)and given to builders and industry at a huge discount. If the Govt is not a player here, this would not be possible. Just today a 1500 cr IT area at Kolkata has been opposed by farmers there. The Govt is a major player in promoting growth of a city. Wringing hands and stating that it is not possible to 'cool' growth is naivete and the Governmental version of 'pretending to be asleep'...nobody can wake up such a Govt that says nothing can be done..this is growth that is unstoppable and Pune's destiny is sealed....just keep pouring a huge stock of affordable housing as a long term solution.. Planned urbanisation is a nice sounding word which is not working. It can only succeed in honest societies with relatively honest Govts. I have also urged that FSI be redefined to include road capacity, water supply and sewage processing facility and not just plot area...an archaic system where one can keep adding permissible built up area with scant consideration for the cascading effects it has on the rest of the city. Despite Governmental measures growth will occur and so will migrations to Pune. these are so called 'natural' migrations..not encouraged or sponsored by incentives and measures taken by Govt. Cooling Pune's growth is not a single shot affair..it will take a long time and many steps and many counter magnets to Pune's growth placed sufficiently apart. I believe we (as a people) have the ingenuity to plan this but not the will to implement it. I believe the word planing encompasses giving direction to growth and this is being misdirected when it crosses the Rubicon..which it has in Pune some years ago. from normal migrations and normal growth we are now having abnormal cancerous growth. Like in the human body this can only kill the city as has happened in Mumbai. This is a partial argument and needs a movement to thrust this before the people and then the Govt. A milch cow like Pune will not be switched off by the Govt without sufficient public pressure. Uday References Category:Vision Category:Pune Visions